Siblings in Greek families: raising a child with disabilities

Abstract

The study focuses on siblings of children with disabilities (CD) in order to investigate: (a) basic components of the sibling personality (self-concept, self-esteem, feelings of loneliness, main needs, nature of anxiety, and attitudes), (b) the representation of family functioning and parental figures, and of social environment, and (c) sibling relationship. The sample consisted of 20 families raising a CD and 20 families raising children without disabilities (CWD). The total number of participants was 151 individuals (80 parents and 71 children). The measures used were the following: (a) self-report measures: (1) Self-concept Scale for Children Lipsitt [SC], (2) Children's Loneliness Questionnaire [CLQ], (3) Hare Self-esteem Scale [HSS] and (4) Family Adaptability Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES-III); (b) projective tests: (1) Thematic Apperception Test [TAT], (2) Children's Apperception Test [CAT] and (3) 'Le dessin de famille'; and (c) semi-structured but focused interviews with the parents. The findings suggest that there is no statistically significant difference between siblings in the areas of ambivalence towards their brother/sister, self-esteem, self-concept, feelings of loneliness, and the representation of family functioning and the paternal figure. There were statistically significant differences in the way they experienced sibling rivalry, maternal figures, and social environment. The study suggests that siblings of CD react in three ways towards their brother/sister: (a) they are protective, (b) distanced, and (c) present infantile behaviour.

Keywords

• siblings
• disability
• Greek family
• components of sibling personality
• sibling relationship